THE OHR SOMAYACH TORAH MAGAZINE ON THE INTERNET - WWW.OHR.EDU O H R N E T P U R I M Shabbat Parshat Tetzave-Zachor-Purim - 11 Adar 5766 - Mar. 11, 2006 - Vol. 13 No. 20 PARSHA INSIGHTS A DROP IN THE OCEAN? to kindle the lamp continually (27:20) We never know how a kind word can change a life. Often we think that a little drop of encouragement is no more than that a drop in the ocean. How wrong! Sometimes the smallest smile can be a lifesaver to someone who may be sinking invisibly before our eyes. The Midrash Tanchuma tells of Rabbi Chanina, the deputy Kohen Gadol (High Priest) speaking of his tenure in the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple): I served in the Beit HaMikdash and miraculous things happened with the Menorah. From the time we lit the Menorah on Rosh Hashana until the following Rosh Hashana it never went out. The Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai, once asked Sometimes just pouring a little of the oil of encouragement into someone s life is enough to light up their entire world Rabbi Chaim Brisker about this Midrash: The Torah mandates the Children of Yisrael shall take for you pure, pressed oil for illumination, to kindle the lamp continually. There is a mitzvah here to light the Menorah every day. If so, how could Rabbi Chanina report that the Menorah was never lit from one year to the next? Rabbi Chaim answered that the Rambam says that someone who puts oil into an already-lit oil lamp on Shabbat is breaking the prohibition of kindling fire on Shabbat. If so, similarly in the Beit HaMikdash, every day they put a little drop of oil into the Menorah and it was considered as though they lit it. Sometimes just pouring a little of the oil of encouragement into someone s life is enough to light up their entire world. Based on Peninim Yekarim in Iturei Torah A Happy and Joyous Purim to All! OHRNET magazine is published by OHR SOMAYACH Tanenbaum College POB 18103, Jerusalem 91180, Israel Tel: +972-2-581-0315 Email: info@ 2006 Ohr Somayach Institutions - All rights reserved This publication contains words of Torah. Please treat it with due respect. 1
PARSHA OVERVIEW G-d tells Moshe to command the Jewish People to supply pure olive oil for the menorah in the Mishkan (Tent of Meeting). He also tells Moshe to organize the making of the bigdei kehuna (priestly garments): a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a checkered tunic, a turban, a sash, a forehead-plate and linen trousers. Upon their completion, Moshe is to perform a ceremony for seven days to consecrate Aharon and his sons. This includes offering sacrifices, dressing Aharon and his sons in their respective garments, and anointing Aharon with oil. G-d commands that every morning and afternoon a sheep be offered on the altar in the Mishkan. This offering should be accompanied by a mealoffering and libations of wine and oil. G-d commands that an altar for incense be built from acacia wood and covered with gold. Aharon and his descendants should burn incense on this altar every day. ISRAEL Forever REMEMBERING WHAT AMALEK DID With Purim only a few days away, Jews will this Shabbat hear a special reading of the Torah in addition to the regular weekly portion. In a second Sefer Torah Parshat Zachor will be read in fulfillment of the Torah command to remember what Amalek did to you. Although the Torah did not specify a date for this annual remembrance, our Talmudic Sages ordered it to take place on the Shabbat before Purim, which celebrates our miraculous deliverance from the Amalekite Haman. There is more in this juxtaposition than just the relationship of the genocidal Haman to his vicious forebears. Our ancestors were made vulnerable by Heaven to an attack from the Amalekites as a means of shocking them out of their almost heretical attitude, expressed in their complaint of Is the L-rd among us or not? (Shmot 17:7). Haman, too, was unleashed against our ancestors because of mistakes they made in regard to bowing to Nebuchadenetzer s idol-like statue and participating in the feast of Achashverosh. Parshat Zachor and Purim should remind us that it pays to come to our senses in regard to our responsibilities as Jews so that we do not have to be shocked into doing so by our enemies, and thus secure Israel forever. LOVE OF THE LAND - THE SAGES Selections from classical Torah sources which express the special relationship between the People of Israel and Eretz Yisrael who strive with the community should do it for the sake of Heaven, for the All merit of their forefathers helps them succeed and their righteousness is everlasting; and you will be rewarded as if you did it by yourselves Rabban Gamliel, the son of Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi (Avot 2:2) Those who mobilize a community to perform a mitzvah, such as giving charity or ransoming captives, should do so only for the sake of Heaven and not for any personal honor. If they have proper intentions, the merit of the community s forefathers will help them reach whatever goal they set, even if it is a great sum of money. The righteousness achieved by the community will last forever, and all who have worked to motivate it will be regarded as if they had done it with their own funds. Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura 2
PARSHA Q&A? 1. What two precautions were taken to assure the purity of oil for the menorah? 2. How was Aharon commanded to kindle the menorah? 3. What does tamid mean in reference to the menorah? 4. What does kehuna mean? 5. Name the eight garments worn by the Kohen Gadol. 6. To what does Rashi compare the ephod? 7. In which order were the names of the Tribes inscribed on the ephod? 8. The stones of the ephod bore the inscription of the names of the sons of Yaakov. Why? 9. For what sins did the choshen mishpat atone? 10. What are three meanings of the word mishpat? 11. What was lacking in the bigdei kehuna in the second Beit Hamikdash? 12. Which garment s fabric was woven of only one material? 13. When the Kohen Gadol wore all his priestly garments, where on his head was the tefillin situated? 14. What does the word tamid mean in reference to the tzitz? (two answers) 15. Which garments were worn by a kohen hediot? 16. During the inauguration of the kohanim, a bullock was brought as a sin offering. For what sin did this offering atone? 17. Moshe was commanded to wash Aharon and his sons to prepare them to serve as kohanim (29:4). How were they washed? 18. What was unique about the bull sin-offering brought during the inauguration of the kohanim? 19. How did the oil used for the meal-offering differ from the oil used for the menorah? 20. What does the crown on the mizbeach haketoret symbolize? PARSHA Q&A! Answers to this Week s Questions! All references are to the verses and Rashi s commentary unless otherwise stated. 1. 27:20 - The olives were pressed and not ground; and only the first drop was used. 2. 27:20 - He was commanded to kindle it until the flame ascended by itself. 3. 27:20 - It means that it should be kindled every night. 4. 28:3 - Service. 5. 28:4,36,42 - Choshen, ephod, me il, ketonet, mitznefet, avnet, tzitz, and michnasayim. 6. 28:6 - A woman s riding garment. 7. 28:10 - In order of birth. 8. 28:12 - So that G-d would see their names and recall their righteousness. 9. 28:15 - For judicial errors. 10. 28:15-1) The claims of the litigants, 2) The court s ruling, 3) The court s punishment. 11. 28:30 - The Urim V Tumim the Shem Ha meforash placed in the folds of the choshen. 12. 28:31 - The fabric of the me il was made only of techelet. 13. 28:37 - Between the tzitz and the mitznefet. 14. 28:38-1) It always atones, even when not being worn. 2) The Kohen Gadol must always be aware that he is wearing it. 15. 28:40,42 - Ketonet, avnet, migba at, and michnasayim. 16. 29:1 - The sin of the golden calf. 17. 29:4 - They immersed in a mikveh. 18. 29:14 - It is the only external sin-offering that was completely burned. 19. 29:40 - Oil for the menorah comes only from beaten olives. Oil for meal-offerings may come from either beaten olives or from ground-up olives. 20. 30:3 - The crown of kehuna. GET THE LATEST FEATURES FROM OHR SOMAYACH DIRECT TO YOUR HANDHELD DEVICE AT 3
TALMUDigest A digest of the topics covered in the seven weekly pages of the Talmud studied in the course of the worldwide Daf Yomi cycle along with an insight from them PESACHIM 51-57 Permissible actions which some communities have forbidden How to conduct oneself when he is in a community with a custom different from that of his own community When one must renounce ownership of his Shvi it (Seventh Year) produce How Rabbi Ilouii was able to take a branch from a palm tree during Shivi it Which animals may be sold to a non-jew Avoiding suspicion of offering Pesach sacrifice today How to order meat for Pesach and why we avoid broiled meat at the Pesach Seder Lighting candles for Yom Kippur like we do for Shabbat MISGUIDED GENEROSITY Bohein had a vegetable field that he placed under the care of his son. Acting out of ignorance and misguided generosity the son set aside a corner of the field for the poor in fulfillment of what he thought was his halachic obligation as the mitzvah of peiah. When Bohein became aware of this he rushed to the field where he saw some poor people with loads of vegetables about to leave. My children, he said to them, put down the vegetables you have gathered and I will give you twice as much from vegetables which have been tithed. Not that I begrudge you the vegetables you have already gathered, but because our Sages have ruled that peiah is not given to the poor in regard to vegetables. Although the Torah required a Jew to leave a portion of his field for the poor, this does not apply to vegetables because they are not all harvested at the same time. A blessing on light in havdalah after Yom Kippur When fire was created, the seven things created before the world and the ten things during twilight of the first Erev Shabbat Doing work on Tisha B Av and on the fasts because of drought Ban on working day before Pesach prohibition or custom? Which efforts are permissible on that day and on Chol Hamoed? The proper and improper deeds of the Jericho community and those of King Chizkiyahu The first recital of the Shma The use and misuse of power The royal debate over a lamb and a goat Setting aside a corner of the field as peiah therefore becomes counterproductive. The poor recipients will assume that there is no need to tithe these vegetables, which is the case for all agricultural produce that one is obligated to leave for the poor. In fact, however, this is not peiah, and consuming without tithing is a serious offense. Bohein therefore wished to save the beneficiaries of his son s error by offering them twice as much of already tithed vegetables. But why was it necessary for him to preface his generous gift with an apology regarding his motive for asking them to leave behind their untithed vegetables. The answer, says the gemara, is that otherwise those poor people would suspect him of trying to retrieve what his son had made available to them and had no intention of making good on his promise to give them even more. Pesachim 57a WHAT THE Sages SAY Whoever supplies a Torah scholar the wares with which he can gain a livelihood will merit to have a place in the Heavenly Yeshiva as it is written (Kohelet 7:12) For in the shelter of wisdom will be the shelter of money (in the place designated for men of wisdom will enter the one who supported him Rashi.) Rabbi Yochanan - Pesachim 53b 4
ASK! YOUR JEWISH INFORMATION RESOURCE - WWW.OHR.EDU From: Confidential Dear Rabbi, MERRY WANNA? What does Judaism have to say about recreational drug usage? I know that Judaism prohibits putting anything harmful into the body, but what about certain drugs that do not hurt the body? Is altering one s state of consciousness ok or not ok from a Jewish standpoint? Dear Confidential, Your question was asked of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zatzal, regarding marijuana. The following is a summary of his answer: The Torah speaks about a Ben Sorer Umoreh - a rebellious son. A Ben Sorer Umoreh is a youth who steals meat and wine from his father and gobbles it down. The Torah calls for the death penalty in such a case. Since he is addicted to physical pleasures, he will ultimately do anything to support his habit, even rob and kill. The same is true of drugs, and more so. People who use drugs usually acquire a strong hunger to maintain their habit, and can develop physical and/or psychological dependence in the early stages, and actually come to rob or harm others in order to support their habit in more advanced stages of addiction. In general, using drugs is unhealthy. But even if no harm is done to the body, drugs reduce the concentration, commitment and consistency needed to pray, fulfill mitzvot and learn Torah properly. Parents are usually distressed by a child s drug usage, so using drugs could lead to violating the commandment to Honor your father and mother. This reason would apply to children of all ages. There is no age where one becomes exempt from honoring one s parents. Finally, the Torah commands Kedoshim Tihiyu - You shall be holy. This means that you should not seek out and indulge in excess pleasures. They divert one s attention from what s really important in life and cause one to shirk his social and religious responsibilities. Based on all the above reasons Rabbi Feinstein prohibits Marijuana and urges educators and anyone who is in a position to influence and guide others to do all they can to dissuade people from using it. Now if you ask, what about alcohol? Don t all the above reasons apply to it as well? The answer is - Yes! In the words of the Rambam, Someone who gets drunk is a sinner. Alcohol, when used for the sole purpose of getting intoxicated, would be in the same category as drugs. As opposed to the moderate use of wine for the purpose of making Kiddush, or commemorating the miraculous redemption of the Jews on Purim or Passover, where the drinking should be done in good taste to heighten one s spiritual sensitivity. (There is no mitzvah getting into a reckless, foolish drunken stupor.) Another point: using drugs, even for recreation, brings one in contact with professionals - users and, unless you grow your own, dealers. So, as they say, If the drugs don t getchya, the company will... Sources: Iggrot Moshe, Yoreh De ah 3:35 PUBLIC DOMAIN Comments, quibbles and reactions concerning previous Ohrnet features Gateway to Marriage My name is Debra J. Bermann, and I coordinate the Special Sections for The Jewish State, a weekly newspaper in Highland Park, NJ, with over 12,000 circulation. We would like your permission to reprint your Jewish Wedding Ceremony article for the Wedding Special Section coming out next week. We are going to print tonight, so I would need your okay as quickly as possible. We will use Rabbi Mordechai Becher s name, as well as the website from which the article originated Ohr Somayach s Ohr.edu site. Thank you for your prompt attention to this inquiry. Ohrnet replies: You have permission in accordance with the conditions you wrote. Please also mention that there is a more complete treatment of the subject in Rabbi Becher s new book, Gateway to Judaism. Re: The Human Side of the Story - You Can t Take Them With You An Ohrnet reader sent an email to Ohr.edu and continued on page seven 5
WHAT S THE RIGHT THING TO DO? REAL-LIFE QUESTIONS OF SOCIAL AND BUSINESS ETHICS HANDLING SENSITIVE INFORMATION Question: Someone recently asked me to provide some information about a young lady I know in order to decide whether to meet her for the purpose of matrimony. I am aware that she has a medical problem but am reluctant to ruin her chances for a long-awaited marriage. What is the right thing to do? Answer: You shall not place a stumbling block in the way of a blind man. (Vayikra 19:14) The Midrash explains that this refers to misguiding someone who is blind in regard to a particular matter by giving him advice that is against his best interests. If you are questioned directly about her health situation, you must answer honestly. If no question is asked about her health, you may assume that this is not an issue (since the asker may himself have a problem which forces him to compromise on this point) and you are not required to volunteer the information you have. It is interesting to note that the Midrash s prime example is when someone is asked whether a particular lady is a kosher candidate for marriage with a kohen and he lies by replying in the affirmative. This example is particularly relevant in this age of ba alei teshuva. A young lady may be a wonderful candidate for marriage but ineligible for a kohen either because her father is not Jewish or because of premarital relations with a non-jew. In general, one should consult a rabbinic authority familiar with the laws of lashon hara if any question arises in providing information on shidduchim. THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE STORY THE SECRET OF SATISFACTION you satisfied with your life? This challenging question was recently put to people in Israel by Are researchers from the Central Bureau of Statistics studying volunteering among citizens of the country. Among the volunteers 41% stated that they were very satisfied with their lives as compared to only 26% expressing such satisfaction among the non-volunteers. There were two other interesting facts emerging from the study. Jews were ahead of all other ethnic groups with 17% of the Jewish population from age 20 and upwards involved in volunteer activity, compared with 14% among the Druze and 9% of the Christian and Muslim populations. Concerning the breakdown within the Jewish population, 36% of the volunteers were very Orthodox, 27% were religiously observant, 14% traditional and 13% secular. A powerful reminder that helping others goes hand in hand with a religious way of life. s u b s c r i b e f o r O h r n e t a n d o t h e r p u b l i c a t i o n s d e l i v e r e d t o y o u r e m a i l 6
continued from page five PUBLIC DOMAIN Comments, quibbles and reactions concerning previous Ohrnet features brought the following information to the attention of the Ohrnet staff and readers, based on an article from the website http://jewishlegends.com/ that relates to an article that circulated in cyberspace and is virtually identical to that which appeared in Ohrnet: Philanthropist Edward (Eli) Reichmann passed away in July in Jerusalem at the age of 80 after a long illness. The above story [on the aforementioned website] attributed to him, however, is false. Reaction to it has been mixed. Grandson Rabbi David Reichmann denies the story about his grandfather ever took place, but is quoted in Mishpacha magazine as saying, I m sure he would have enjoyed this story. However, Reichmann cousins posted a different message on the website hasidicrebbele.blogspot.com: This message is sent without prejudice at the direct request of the Reichmann family. It has to do with the recently circulated urban legend regarding Mr. R s socks. While the late Edward OB M had a great sense of humor, he was quite ill for several years and this took a tremendous toll on his family. He was a giant of a man, well known for his philanthropic pursuits throughout the world. On each occasion when my husband and I would visit him, we would leave his home very distraught at seeing his decline over each passing year. May we never know of such sorrow! After receiving the urban legend email my husband contacted the family directly and was told that they are collectively very upset about the circulation of this falsehood. We ask you to forward this message to the people from whom you received it, as well as those to whom you sent it and ask them to in turn contact their senders and perhaps we could eventually reach the source and correct the unfortunate situation. You would be doing a big chesed for the grieving widow (our cousin), her children and their extended families. In the hope that the true legacy of Eliyahu ben Rivka will surface soon and serve us as a role model to us all. Re: Garlic Gemach Getaway For the person who had to deal with garlic breath, a nice bowl with breath mints near the cash register is always a nice gesture, and the customers like it too. It s free and solves the problem of unwanted odors. Merrilyn Reynolds. Regarding the woman with Garlic Breath: Here s one idea. When the culprit enters the store, the shopkeeper can offer EVERYONE around a breath mint / candy. Do this daily. Maybe the Garlic Lady will eventually get the hint. Even if she doesn t, maybe her breath will smell better. This way no one is singled out. Jon Subar Just wanted you to know that this was a beautiful answer to a sticky question. As usual, I find your answers respectful, insightful and always enjoyable to read. I agree. By this person not saying anything, the reward is inestimable when you consider the fact that the silence may keep the poor woman from being embarrassed, which would have caused untold harm both in this world and, especially, the Next world! All the best to you. Danny Freeman FYI, I was in a similar situation some years back and used an inexpensive exhaust fan to deal with the problem. W. Re: Ethics - The Immunity of Community Another winner for my Ethics class! Thank you so much. Prof. James Breckenridge Purim in Youngstown with Ohr.edu I am the editor of The Jewish Journal Monthly Magazine serving Youngstown and Warren, OH and Sharon, PA. I am looking for some Purim parodies to use in our March issue. What is your policy about reprinting some from your Ohr.edu site? Please advise. Sherry Weinblatt Ohrnet replies: Please feel free to reprint what you think helpful, with proper credit as to the source Ohr.edu of course. 7